The (Mis)Adventures of Tomoe Gozen
by Just Another Indonesian Writer
Summary: Historically, Tomoe Gozen was a famous female samurai warrior that never lived long enough to see the Azuchi-Momoyama period nor to see Oda's rise to power. But... that's not really the case here in this story. Enter Tomoe Gozen, a well respected officer of the Oda army. His day had just gone from bad to worse with the sudden entry of Sagara Yoshiharu in his life.


Tomoe Gozen sneezed. A high pitched '_achoo_!' broke the silence at the main room of the Owari castle. He was a respected officer in the Oda army. He was well known for his sharp eyes and deadly skills as a swordsman. He was sitting at the almost empty throne room with the other officers of the army along with his leader herself, Oda Nobuna. He felt a little bit weird though. Not because of the fact that he's the one of the two only males that were present in the room, not the fact that he was so childishly short (the shortest offi- I mean soldier among the army), almost half the size of the other male, but because of the other male himself.

Speaking of Tomoe... he's not that usual kind of guy that could be a leader on the field. Aside from his dangerously short height, his girly voice and his somewhat feminine body build, he's one of the most timidest and shiest soldier at the massive army of the fool of Owari. Although, all things aside, if you could say that Niwa Nagahide was Nobuna Oda's right hand (wo)man, Tomoe was her eyes and ears. Even at his age of seventeen, the teen had lead the riflemen battalion of the Oda through countless battles and still live to tell the tale.

You could image him as a cool-headed and caring like any other perfect guy on the field, right? Well, he's not. He's the type of guy who's somewhat, shy, not much of a talker, especially in public, yet, he's also brave enough to voice his own opinion when an opportunity strikes up. He was the main tactical forecaster of the army and the leader of the Owari's Vanguard, the elitest of the elites. The group consisted of handpicked musketeers as well as swordsmen to serve the Oda as a recon team as well, as its name already suggest, a vanguard for the main force.

Yes, there was a reason why he was picked as a tactical forecaster. Tomoe was a cunning figure, although not too bright and could be a bit naive at some parts. He's the one you can trust if it comes down to last minute decisions. While he's not brilliant enough to be the planner of the clan, he was quick to learn the battlefield, let it be forests, plains, swamp areas, seas, and even to Alpine regions of the northern parts of Feudal-Japan.

Now, you might notice something was rather off during the whole explanation of his background.

That's right. Historically, Tomoe Gozen was a female samurai warrior, also known as _Onna Bugeisha_, and she died at the year of 1247, long before Oda's rise to power. How did this 'she' become a 'he'? How's he serving as Nobuna Oda's tactical forecaster? Isn't it weird? Well, it's about to get weirder. Welcome to the already abnormal story of his life. This is his tale, the tale of a boy that's kind of lost in time. This is the (Mis)Adventures of Tomoe Gozen.

* * *

**The [Mis]Advetures of Tomoe Gozen**

**Chapter One: The Man from the Future**

* * *

Tomoe fidgeted slightly in his seat, whilst rubbing his nose to ease his runny nose. His earlier sneeze had turned several heads to the child-like leader of the Owari's Vanguard, the new male included. His short, slightly messy, yet also straight raven hair swayed slightly after his sudden burst. The young vanguard blinked his gradient colored hazel-amber eyes in order to regain his vision's focus. His black with some yellow stripes _O-Yoroi_ armor set made some clanking sounds as he fidgeted, the Oda clan crest visible on his _Dou Or Do_'s back part. His black traditional style trousers were almost worn out due to excessive wearings.

A black long and tall _Naginata_ that's also stylized to look like the ancient Chinese's _Guan Do_ was slung over his right shoulder. The spear-like weapon was so long, it even nearly tripled the total height of the said boy. The _Naginata_ had to be sheathed on a cross position so that its ends would not hit the wooden floor of the room. Over at his left one, was a standard issue musket rifle from the Oda's armory. The rifle had its barrel shortened, also decreasing the travel distance of the long range weapon's projectile, the musket ball. Both weapons had bright amber to near golden trimmings on both the metal and wooden parts, similar to the Oda's official flag colors in terms of color shadings.

Back to the story, he was watching another boy at the far end of the room. The said boy was strange. _Very strange_. He looked like he's about Tomoe's, Katsuie's, and Nobuna's age. Slightly younger than Niwa, but obviously older than Toshiie. His skin was, by far, the most tanned out of all the individual at the room, and his hairstyle was certainly bizarre. The mentioned boy's hair was short and brown, there seems to be a weird wave on the front part, which looked like a bun for some reason. His brown eyes were staring into each person sitting at the room, as if studying them one by one. He was also wearing a set of clothes that could be considered, alien by most of them. The teen wore a simple yellow shirt underneath a black blazer meant for high school students as well as a pair of black trousers.

There has been an awkward silence in the room, even after the sudden sneeze, courtesy of the vanguard, that could be used as a media to break it. It's been at least a full three minutes of silence since the last person who actually spoke. And it was that other boy. He was desperately explaining something that even the smart Niwa couldn't comprehend. It was something about a box, a certain thing that's called cellphone, and magic.

It was a weird day for most of the officers. One time they were just walking around town when suddenly their lord as well as one of her most trusted officers, Katsuie brought in this boy, claiming that he had saved Nobuna from a certain death.

Seeing enough of the silence, the blonde haired leader of the Oda clan shifts her finger from her personal musket's trigger and back to its handle.

"Alright..." She began. "I understand that the strange technique you used isn't magic, but..." She trailed off, before bending her body slightly forward, with her golden eyes also sparkling in excitement. "Is it some kind of barbarian technology?" She asked... well, it sounded more like a demand, actually.

The question made everyone at the room to look at the other boy, in which he had a confused look on his face. "Technique?" He asked back incredulously. "Oh, you mean the ringtone?" He reached for his blazer to pull something out, it was a smartphone, with the screen already inactive. "The battery died just a while ago, so I can't really use it anymore."

Nobuna only dropped her shoulders slightly in disappointment. "What? And here I thought you were an interesting person or something..." The girl lazily replied back to him, which also earned her a slight glare. "So... you want to serve the Oda family?"

At the question, the tall teen immediately slammed his hands down to the floor, also bending his head downwards. "Please, lord Nobunaga!" He pleaded. "Please, let me-"

He could never finish his sentence. A kick went straight into his face, courtesy of Nobuna. The impact of the kick was so hard, the boy had flied at least 10 feet away from where he had been sitting. The poor boy's body crashed down to the wooden flooring, just as soon as he was about to retort back to her, Nobuna's right foot pressed down against his cheek, while her other foot pressed his stomach down, preventing him to get up from his comically downed position. This made Tomoe winced slightly.

"What was that?!" Growled the fool of Owari as she increased the pressure of her own stomp. "Don't you realized that you just messed up the name of your soon-to-be general?! Are you dumb?! For the last time, it's _Nobuna_ Oda!" For once, she actually stopped her relentless stomping on the poor guy. "So, I've told you my name... tell me yours."

No response for the next two seconds in, and Nobuna was already stomping his face again.

"Give me your name, already! I hate slow-witted guys!" She demanded angrily. "Come on, spit it out!"

"Sa... Sagara... Yoshiharu!" The boy, now named Yoshiharu finally blurted between his pained grunts and moans.

The Clan leader let her foot of from his body. "Got it. Your name's _Saru._ [Monkey]"

Feeling that he just been insulted by the girl, Sagara shot his body up, angered. "It's **_Sagara Yoshiharu_**!" He yelled furiously, catching several members present in the room off guard, Tomoe included. "I'm from the future, so I'm practically a God in this timelin-"

Once again, the poor brunette could never really finish his sentence as another kick landed on the right side of his cheek. Dazed, Yoshiharu collapsed in the most comical way possible.

"What kind of future?!" Nobuna retorted back, also getting furious as his actions, true to her reddening face. "For your information, I don't believe in Gods or Buddhas, and no human would say something so weird! Just by saying that automatically makes you an actual monkey by default!"

Seeing this, Niwa giggled in an elegant way whilst concealing a part of her face with her fan. "Then, we can just call him _Saru_, right?" She questioned, her crystalline blue eyes staring at the general direction of Yoshiharu. "But still, if we are going to use him as a retainer, he should at least play a role in here too."

Nobuna smirked at her main adviser. "I agree... well, it felt good to step on him, so he can be in charge of my shoes."

Niwa closed her fan, also tapping it lightly on her own palm. "That will do just nicely..." She gave a nearly self-delusional smile to her leader. "Seventy points."

After that long while, Yoshiharu finally forced his composure back to his own body, he shot his face up to protest. "And why's that?! I'm a monkey _AND_ also in charge of your shoes?! What kind of joke is-" He stopped, but not because of another kick landed on his face, but because something else.

Tomoe could see something, like a spark of a determined look coming to life in his brown eyes. Yoshiahru cleared his throat and just grinned confidently at the audience. This was somehow weird to look at. Even Nobuna herself was somewhat surprised at his sudden stop. She looked curious and also a bit angered. Her eye twitched in annoyance when she saw that grin on his face, but she refrained from doing anymore harm to him.

"You know what?" Asked the brunette, still maintaining the confident grin. "I'll gladly accept the position as a _monkey_ in your ranks."

* * *

It was nearing sunset, and the sun itself was already threatened to fall from the skies and disappear in the Western horizons. Zooming into the picture, several traditional suburban houses from the past eras're seen. They're lined up in a traditional, yet orderly manner. Most of them are only made out of wood and straws. And finally, we have Tomoe and Yoshiharu, entering a nearly run-down house at the far corner of the block.

The young and short vanguard was _lucky_ enough to get chosen by his lord to be the guide of the Oda's newest addition. Seeing that Nobuna _won't_ be risking any of her other female officers to be with Sagara, Tomoe was the only choice available in store for them. He was tasked to guide the much taller teen around town and also find him a place to stay. Well, he can't really say no, right? With no other choice, and objections, the raven haired marksman agreed to take up the task.

But... it wasn't going so well. Due to Tomoe's extreme timidness, most of the trip around the area was filled with awkward and uncomfortable silence. He was so quiet that it actually driven Yoshiharu to be concerned of his well being and he actually asked if he was alright, or was feeling ill. Of course, the question was shrugged off by the officer. But even after that question, the trip just went more awkward. No other contact was made between the two after that. Although, the time-traveled teen noted that the boy shorter than him was one of the very few guys who _actually_ held a degree of respect to him.

The silence wasn't going to stay for much longer, though.

"Well... here we are, Sagara-san." The quiet, hushed, and timid voice of Tomoe finally pierced through the silence as they walked into a traditional hut. "I know the owner of this house well, so I'm sure he'll treat you nicely."

The said teen looked around the corners of the place, an amused look plastering his face. "Well, this is underwhelming... and kind of shabby, too." He commented, also noticing a few web strings on the ceiling, obviously showing the poor condition of the house.

A guilty look was present on the vanguard's face the whole time. "I'm... I'm sorry, Sagara-san, but I don't really know any free place to stay in town."

"I was thrown into a Sengoku era with nothing of my own anyway, so I can't really ask for much..." Yoshiharu shrugged.

Light tapping noises sounded off from the front of the house, in which, this also made the two boys inside to turn their heads to the main door of the house. And in cue, a middle-aged man walks into the house. He was wearing a traditional Hakama, and looked like your usual Feudal-Japan citizen. A wise, caring, and fatherly smile was seen crossing the man's face when he noticed the newcomer inside the small hut.

"Is it not of your liking, young man?" The man questioned, all in good terms.

Tomoe was the first to react. "Ah, Asano-san. Good evening." The vanguard bent his head down slightly, making a small, yet also respectful bow to the older man.

"Good evening to you too, boy." Asano merely patted the boy's head twice, before turning his face to the brunette beside him. "Oh my... you look like a valiant one. You look so much like me when I was in my youth." He smiled nostalgically, trying to reminisce the past events. "...Yes... So much, that I wish you'd marry my daughter, Nene, and take over my inn."

Without wasting another second, Yoshiharu grunted in excitement as his free hands balled into fists. "Please, introduce me to her!"

_Oh how he was going to regret that decision._

The said time travelling brunette's eyebrow twitched, his face had a look of disbelieving, angered, unamused, and so much more negative expressions mixed into one look that's coloring his tan face. A bead of comical sweat ran down from his forehead. They were seeing Nene, the daughter of Asano. Practically a child with a short, shoulder-length light brown hair, lighter than Yoshiharu's hair color. Looks like this turned down his excitement.

"I'm Nene, it's nice to meet you, Saru-dono!" She shouted cheerily, raising something that looked like a wooden soup spoon in her hand.

"**_SHE'S TOO YOUNG, SO NO THANKS!_**" Yoshiharu snapped, also _this_ close to flip the table over if it wasn't for Tomoe, weighing it down with his _Naginata_.

Nene huffed, while puffing her cheeks. "Saru-dono, you're one noisy person, you know that?"

"I'm not a monkey!" He yelled back. "I'm Sagara Yoshiharu!"

Nene just giggled and smacked his hair with her soup spoon. "I understand, Saru-dono!" She then also turned her face to the quiet vanguard, still trying to prevent the newest member of Oda to do any kind of damage to the household. "Oh, you're here too, Tomoe-onii-chan?"

At this, Yoshiharu froze. His brown eyes widened immediately. "Tomoe...?" He repeated the name. He then suddenly turned his face to the marksman with a glare. "As in... _Gozen Tomoe_...?!"

Tomoe backed away slightly. "Yes...?" He answered, a bit scared at the glare that was given from the other teen. "I'm sorry I haven't introduce myself to you, Sagara-san. But yes, I am Tomoe."

"Impossible."

The short vanguard tilted his head to the side. "What?"

The glare only intensifies at the question. "Impossible." Yoshiharu repeated his own word. "According to the correct history, Gozen Tomoe died around three centuries ago. She died at the age of ninety on the winter year of 1247. She wasn't supposed to be in the game of Nobunaga's Ambition!" He stated, with his volume raising on every second. "Although I didn't really know her because she wasn't in the game, I'm 100% sure that she's not alive at this time of the year!"

"E-excuse me, Sagara-san?" Tomoe backed away even further, also tightening his grip on his personal _Naginata_.

"You're not supposed to exist here!" The teen blurted, but he quickly closed his mouth again with his hands. "Oh crap."

Everyone present at the house was shocked and stunned at the words that were launched off from Yoshiharu's mouth. An uncomfortable silence sets in, everyone, including the brunette was at a lost for words. But the one who took the worst impact was Tomoe himself. When he heard that he wasn't supposed to alive, exist, even. He felt like he was thrust by hundreds of swords at once. It was much more painful than an actual physical pain.

Asano, having enough of the tense situation at hand, raised his hand. "Stop joking, young man." He tried to defuse the situation with a calming smile. "Both Nene and I have known Tomoe-kun right here for many years, and he's real, alright. You can even prove his existence by asking the other officers of the army. He's a good man, even for his age."

"I... He..." The tall teen was still stumbling over words, he looked towards Tomoe to see that he was trembling, and his knees were shaking, dangerously near to the point of crumbling and collapsing. "Tomoe-san... I... I'm sorry. It's just that..." He trailed off, frustrated by his harsh actions towards his guide.

Tomoe was hurt enough when he heard that, but he steeled himself. The vanguard forced a pained smile. "N-no, it's alright, Sagara-san... you're confused, and I can understand that." He raised a hand in a vain attempt to melt the heavy atmosphere down.

But then, the short soldier stopped. He turned his face to the ceiling of the house with a stern look. He pulled his matchlock _Tanegashima_ musket that looked more like a pistol of some sort out of its holster. He aimed the firearm at the ceiling part he had laid his eyes upon. He signaled everyone present to be on their guard for a possible enemy intruder hiding inside the house. With no hesitation, he fired the musket-pistol hybrid at the ceiling. A loud, near deafening voice boomed out from the pistol, and a musket ball was launched violently from the barrel of the firearm.

The projectile impacted something on the ceiling and a white smoke comes out of it. Surprised, the whole house was thrown into disarray. Tomoe's keen eyes watched a figure dashing out of the ceiling and into the cramped spaces of the hut. The next thing he heard was a panicked yell from Yoshiharu. Instinctively, the childishly-short boy grabbed his personal 275 Centimeters long _Naginata_ and slashed at the supposed direction of his target. The diagonal swipe of the weapon immediately cleared out the smoke out of the house.

But Tomoe was shocked when he saw that Yoshiharu was already gone along with the intruder. Okay, that was too much for him to handle. The vanguard dropped his weapons to the floor, and just collapsed due to the massive confusion that's swarming him. Just a few seconds in later, he passed out of exhaustion. The only thing he heard before he was taken into the black void was Nene's and Asano's voice calling out to him.

All and all, it really doesn't take a genius to tell that Tomoe Gozen's day had just gone from bad to worse.

* * *

**End of Chapter One**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

It is very weird of me to suddenly post this story out of nowhere... but here's the story, anyway!

It took me a long while to learn the history of Japan. So, after seeing the unique plot of _The Ambition of Nobuna Oda_ (which sounds somewhat similar to _The Melancholy of Harumi Suzumiya_) offers to us, the viewers, I think I should just give a shot on writing something that's based on the series. Since the series offered us some gender-bent characters from the Edo period's generals, I thought that... why don't I try to gender-bend one of the more famous _Onna Bugeisha _of Japan and give her a shot at this series?

That's when Tomoe Gozen comes to mind. If you don't know who she is, she's one of the bravest and strongest _Onna Bugeisha _during the twelfth century. Do keep in mind that I made the Tomoe in this story similar to her own history. In the history books, Tomoe was well known for her sharp eye as a bow-wielder and sharp skills as a swordswoman. But because the setting was set on the... Edo Period, if I'm not mistaken...? I thought that, even Tomoe deserved an upgrade, so I decided to give him a musket.

I thought that Tomoe Gozen was a clever and cunning individual, since she managed to go through and through countless of battles. I mean, one can't just survive in the field with just their skills, yes? Hence, also the tactical forecaster title that was given to this version of Tomoe. And yes, Tomoe was well known for brandishing her long, golden, dual-edged _Naginata_. So, for me to make this Tomoe similar to the original one, I also made him to wield a _Naginata_, although with less golden decorations, and with the lack of the other bladed edge.

Oh, and don't worry, even with the mad reputation the original Tomoe had, I'm not planning my Tomoe to be overpowered. True to his midget height, shy and timid personality, and you'll even see the more darker sides of my Tomoe in the future chapters of this half-assed story. The whole 'leader of the Vanguard forces' thing was just merely a background story, and it will not really impact the overall storyline of the original series. And yes, if you are wondering, I am somewhat rewriting the series with an inserted Tomoe.

And yes, Tomoe wasn't supposed to exist during the Edo period. The reason why Yoshiharu was so shocked back then was just because he hasn't know Tomoe's name yet.

So... wow, that was quite a long Author's Notes regarding the story. Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading, guys.

Traesto :)


End file.
